As we approach the pivotal 2024 elections, the urgency to protect the freedom to vote and increase Black voter participation is especially critical. The new partnership between the Global Black Economic Forum and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a testament to this urgency. Rather than solely encouraging our community to vote, our focus encompasses a broader vision of civic engagement, electoral participation, voter education, and election protection.
The Global Black Economic Forum will join the Election Protection coalition convened by the Lawyers’ Committee, the nation’s largest non-partisan voter protection effort, boasting over 300 organizations as coalition members nationwide.
Throughout election cycles, Election Protection volunteers provide voters with critical information, document problems voters experience when voting, and work with partners to remove barriers to the ballot. We will recruit volunteers to join the existing nationwide Election Protection infrastructure for training and deployment. Both organizations will prioritize keeping volunteers engaged throughout the election season by amplifying the key contributions Black people, and especially Black women, have made to protecting democracy.
As attacks on our freedoms ramp up, the stakes are high, and our decisions this year will shape our future for generations to come.
Voting is critical for all the issues we know — exercising your constitutional right, protecting democracy, electing representatives to advance and protect our individual and collective interests. However, voting is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to making and changing the rules and laws that govern us.
Comprehensive voter education is essential to creating an informed electorate that understands the issues at stake, the roles of elected offices outside of the Presidency and Congress, and the impact voting can have on changing our everyday lives. This education is crucial, as misinformation and disinformation campaigns increasingly target Black communities to encourage political apathy.
Similarly, election protection work is vital to safeguarding the integrity of our votes. If we’re encouraging people to vote, we must do what we can to ensure every vote is counted. Unfortunately, the idea of ‘one person, one vote’ is under attack from right-wing extremists who have a vested interest in silencing Black voters.
Fundamentally, the partnership between the Global Black Economic Forum and the Lawyers’ Committee is about protecting our freedoms. The freedom to vote is part of the foundation of our freedoms to live, achieve, and care for our families. The policies and leaders we elect and support ultimately affect how we move in the world, our access to healthcare, and even whether or not our history is part of what our children learn in schools. As attacks on our freedoms ramp up, the stakes are high, and our decisions this year will shape our future for generations to come.
This year at the 2024 ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the Global Black Economic Forum and the Lawyers’ Committee will equip our attendees in person and virtually with the tools to champion Black political power in the 2024 election cycle. We must make the case for participating in our democracy with new ideas and energy that drive forward a renewed enthusiasm for democracy.
Building a coalition committed to advancing a fair, equitable, and prosperous future for Black communities will take everyone. Are you ready to join us?
Alphonso David is a civil rights attorney. He is the president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum.
